Irving Norman Art
The Lithuanian-American artist Irving Norman was a social Surrealist who painted large-scale and highly detailed critiques of contemporary life with hopes that viewers would consider the consequences of their actions and change their behavior.
Influenced by the dire conditions of the Great Depression, Norman’s massive canvases feature armies of clone-like figures behaving in the clockwork manner in which they have been programmed. He moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1934 before helping to defend the Spanish Republic from the fascist Franco dictatorship.
Norman survived the Spanish Civil War and in 1939 settled on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, where he began drawing and painting from the atrocities he had witnessed. In 1940, he moved to San Francisco and had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art two years later. Norman then traveled to Mexico City and saw the murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros before moving to New York City to study at the Art Students League from 1946 to 1947. He returned to San Francisco in the late 1940s. In 1988, fire destroyed Norman’s home, studio, artwork and personal papers.
Find original Irving Norman paintings and prints on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Heather James Fine Art)
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Oil
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Oil
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century American Modern Irving Norman Art
Color Pencil, Pencil
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Cotton, Oil, Canvas
1990s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
1940s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Cotton, Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Commuters on a Monday morning in midtown Manhattan stride purposefully through the city streets. Lost in thought about the past or the coming weekend, they fa...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Oil
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Oil, Canvas
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
1960s Irving Norman Art
Ink, Gouache, Pencil
1920s Post-Impressionist Irving Norman Art
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Graphite
1940s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Color Pencil, Graphite